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Watch your purse at church-run day cares
Detectives say a woman, asking for a tour to consider enrolling her child, has been stealing unattended wallets and purses.
By JACOB H. FRIES
Published May 4, 2006
CLEARWATER - Her target, of all places, is typically a church-run day care center.
She comes in and asks for a tour, saying she's interested in enrolling her child there. She looks for unattended wallets and purses, then creates a distraction by asking for water or to use a telephone.
Within an hour after leaving, she is at a CVS or Target store using the misbegotten credit cards.
Since March 27, the woman has hit 14 churches from Nebraska Road in Palm Harbor to Gulf-to-Bay Boulevard in Clearwater. On Wednesday, authorities released a surveillance photograph of the woman in hopes of someone coming forward with new leads.
Investigators can only guess at the woman's choice of prey.
"She must have done it once and found it was an easy way to stroll around," said Clearwater police Sgt. Greg Stewart.
Stewart would not name the particular churches, citing an ongoing investigation.
Each time, the woman varies her routine slightly, Stewart said. She has struck on every day of the week, except Sunday, between 8:30 a.m. and 2 p.m.
Typically, she hustles only one church a day, but on two occasions, she has gone for a second.
"I think she kind of wings it, depending on where she is and what she's doing," he said.
Authorities on Wednesday were unable to estimate how much the woman has stolen to date. Some of the purchases were made in other counties, making calculations difficult, said sheriff's Detective J. Kanehl, who is also investigating.
Typically, the woman used the stolen cards to buy household items, some jewelry or gift cards at the stores.
Stewart described the suspect as a white woman in her late 30s to early 40s, standing 5 foot 5 to 5 foot 9 and weighing about 160 pounds.
She had dirty blonde to light brown hair and a tan complexion, he said. She talked in a raspy voice.
TO HELP
Anyone with information about the thefts can call Clearwater police Detective Faye Wilkinson at 562-4371 or sheriff's Detective J. Kanehl at 582-6948.
[Last modified May 4, 2006, 00:59:16]
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